During time of war, a plane carrying a group of British schoolboys is shot down over the Pacific ocean. The pilot of the plane along with many others are killed, but most of the boys survive the crash and find themselves deserted on an uninhabited island without adult supervision.
About the author:
William Golding was born on the 19th of September 1911 in St Columb Minor, United Kingdom. During his education Golding attended St John's School and Community College, University of Oxford, Brasenose College and Oxford. In his career he won the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Man Booker Prize.
Main Characters:
Ralph:
The hero of the story, Ralph is one of the oldest boys on the island. He quickly becomes the group's leader. Golding describes Ralph as tall for his age and handsome, and he presides over the other boys with a natural sense of authority. Although he lacks Piggy's intelligence, Ralph is calm and rational, with sound judgment and a strong moral sensibility. But he is vulnerable to the same instinctive influences that affect the other boys, as demonstrated by his contribution to Simon's death. Nevertheless, Ralph remains the most civilized character throughout the novel. With his strong commitment to justice and equality, Ralph represents the political tradition of liberal democracy.
Piggy:
Although chubby, awkward, and unwilling to physical labor because he suffers from asthma, Piggy who dislikes his nickname is the intellectual on the island. Though he is an outsider among the other boys, Piggy is eventually accepted by them, although unenthusiastically,when they discover that his glasses can be used to ignite fires. Piggy's intellectual talent endears him to Ralph in particular, who comes to admire and respect him for his clear focus on securing their rescue from the island. Piggy is dedicated to the idea of civilization and consistently scolds the other boys for behaving as savages. His continual clashes with the group end when Roger murders Piggy by dropping a rock on him, an act that signals the triumph of brute instinct over civilized order. Intellectual, sensitive, and conscientious, Piggy represents culture within the democratic system incorporated by Ralph. Piggy's nickname symbolically connects him to the pigs on the island, who quickly become the targets of Jack's and his hunters' bloodlust, an association that foreshadows his murder.
Jack:
The leader of a boys' choir, Jack demonstrates militarism as it borders on dictatorship. He is cruel and vicious, preoccupied with hunting and killing pigs. His cruelty intensifies throughout the novel, and he eventually turns cruelly on the other boys. Jack takes an interest in the rules of order established on the island, but only if they allow him to inflict punishment. Jack represents anarchy. His rejection of Ralph's imposed order and the bloody results of this act indicate the danger inherent in a lawless system based only on self-interest.
Simon:
The most spiritual character in the novel, Simon has a deep affection with nature and often walks alone in the jungle. While Piggy represents the cultural and Ralph the political and moral facets of civilization, Simon represents the spiritual side of human nature. Like Piggy, Simon is an outcast: the other boys think of him as odd and perhaps insane. It is Simon who finds the beast. When he attempts to tell the group that it is only a dead pilot, the boys, under the impression that he is the beast, murder him in a panic.
Roger:
One of the hunters and the guard at the castle rock fortress, Roger is Jack's equal in cruelty. Even before the hunters devolve into savagery, Roger is barbaric and savage, kicking down sand castles and throwing sand at others. After the other boys lose all idea of civilization, it is Roger who murders Piggy.
Sam andEric (twins):
The twins are the only boys who remain with Ralph and Piggy to tend to the fire after the others abandon Ralph for Jack's tribe until SamnEric are kidnapped and forced to join Jack's tribe. The others consider the two boys as one single individual making the other boys combine their names into one 'SamnEric' not Sam and Eric. Here one might find suggestions about individualism and human uniqueness.
Questions (Any areas of confusion about the novel)
Glossary of words I don't understand:
Intricacies = Details, especially of an involved or perplexing subject. Pliant = Easily bent. Defiles = To damage the purity or appearance of something. Dubiety = The state or quality of being doubtful. Sinewy = consisting of or resembling sinews. (Of a person or animal) lean and muscular. Convulsion = A violent social or political disruption. Untrodden = A surface not having been walked on. Solemnity = The quality or state of being serious and dignified. Mutinously = Disposed to or in a state of mutiny. Uproarisly = Hilariously. Paunched = Disemboweled animal. Phosphorescence = Light emitted by a substance without combustion or perceptible heat. Woebegone = Sad or miserable in appearance. Myopia = The quality of being short-sighted. Multitudinous = Incalculable Truculently = In an aggressively eager manner.
Comment:
It didn't take me that long to finish the book but it wasn't very interesting. It took a long time to get into anything mildly intriguing to read and those moments didn't last too long. At the beginning of the book it didn't really make sense and I couldn't understand what was going on for a while, so that could have been better. Personally I wouldn't say I liked it but I guess I see how others would.
Interview Questions to Ralph:
1. Do you think there always needs to be someone in charge of a group? Why?
I do definitely think there always needs to be someone in charge of any type of group. I think this because without a leader things get easily confused and many arguments are one by those who are stronger when they may not necessarily be correct. I also think there needs to be a leader because if there is no leader people tend to stand around and do nothing while everyone does everything or nothing gets done at all because nobody will listen to each other.
2. I've heard that you were the leader of the group, how did this come to be decided?
Yes, that is true. Well first I blew the conch because Piggy and I found it and we decided to try and see where all the other boys were. With in minutes all the boys that survived the crash were gathered around, everyone decided as a group we were in need of a leader, someone to guide us through this event. Jack wanted to be in charge and it's not like I was too fussed whether or not I was, I just knew things needed to be done. Anyway the rest of the boys decided to vote whether to have Jack or I as leader by putting up their hands, and I had more people put their hand up for me so I won.
3. When the men found you and your friends everyone's face but yours was painted why was this? And why were you running?
All I ever wanted to do was act like a civilised group of boys and follow the rules like at home but the longer we stayed on the island the more fiesty, sadistic and rebellious Jack got. Eventually after we both had a fight and he was embarrassed, he told people he was leaving to go and hunt for pigs and who ever wanted to join him could. By dark most of the bigger kids had gone except for myself, SamnEric, Simon and Piggy, and we also had the littluns. They all painted their faces red and black as if they were wearing masks, I don't know what for maybe so they could hide behind what they truly thought and felt. One time I went with Piggy and SamnEric to talk to Jack after Simon had been killed and the littluns had run to Jack because he had meat, we wanted him to understand the importance of the signal fire and that the way he was acting was not right, not civilised. Well what happened next I was definitely not expecting, it was so hard to cope with, Piggy was my friend, Roger pushed a huge boulder down the hill just like a savage and it landed on top of Piggy and killed him. The tribe also kidnapped SamnEric and forced them to join the tribe. After there was only me left all by myself they tried to kill me, Jack instigated it and I'm not sure everyone was for it, everyone but Roger, I know he was all for killing. They set the ground on fire to try and smoke me out of where I was hiding, I ran and ran until I tripped over and that's when the found me. Thank god.
4. Why did you not count how many of you there were?
I'm not really sure as to why we didn't count how many of us there was, I think we all just assumed nothing would happen or we would know if someone went missing, or maybe we just didn't think it was all that important, we were just trying to survive and get rescued that's all we thought about at the beginning. We should have counted.
5. Before your plane crashed and you were elected leader of the group, did you consider yourself a leader or a follower?
I guess I considered myself a leader before our plane crashed, I was never one to follow others, I knew how to be fair and the difference between wrong and right. I never minded people to follow what I did or said but never quite focused on being a leader, it wasn't important until we all became stranded.
5 Facts about Lord of the Flies/ William Golding:
1.Lord of the Flies only sold 3,000 copies before going out of print in 1995 but, by the year of 1962, the novel had sold over 65,000 copies and was required reading at many colleges.
2.Stephen King has been heavily influenced by the novel.
3."Castle Rock" - the town that appears in many of Stephen Kings novels came from the island landmark in Lord of the Flies.
4.During World War II, William Golding fought battleships at the sinking of the Bismarck, fended off submarines and planes and was even placed in command of a rocket-launching craft.
5.In 1935 Golding took his first teaching job for English and philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury.
THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL:
It is approximately 10 past 10 in the morning. The morning is cold, I think that is telling us something, that it isn’t a good thing we are killing the Aristos. I believe god is giving us a sign we shouldn’t do this, it will all turn into chaos but I’m only young no one would listen, I would also be believed to be against the revolution which I am but they can’t know that. I am scared for my life and if people ever found out I was extremely against this, I would be killed for sure. My head would be the one under the guillotine just like the former Duke Grenoble. Poor man. Poor Aristos. It smells terrible enough as it is but in a matter of seconds I can guarantee it will smell worse. There is a smoke smell coming from, the brazen, bread from the bakery, the stench of everybody including myself, the horses and the broth and rum mixed with hot water from the breath of everyone around me. Soon I will smell blood, any second now that guillotine will chop off the Duke’s head. Sacre bleue! It’s gone, his head is off, I can’t believe it, this is horrific! I am so glad I wasn’t at the front! Sacre bleue, sacre bleue! Now I can hear shouting, lots and lots of shouting. Death to the Aristocrats, death to the Aristocrats! I better shout along or someone will notice and dob me in. I am now touching all the dirty bodies that are still chanting in my ear. I’m disgusted. This is disgusting. I just want to go home.
LORD OF THE FLIES
By William Golding
Trailer of the movie:
Synopsis:
During time of war, a plane carrying a group of British schoolboys is shot down over the Pacific ocean. The pilot of the plane along with many others are killed, but most of the boys survive the crash and find themselves deserted on an uninhabited island without adult supervision.
About the author:
William Golding was born on the 19th of September 1911 in St Columb Minor, United Kingdom. During his education Golding attended St John's School and Community College, University of Oxford, Brasenose College and Oxford.
In his career he won the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Man Booker Prize.
Main Characters:
Ralph:
The hero of the story, Ralph is one of the oldest boys on the island. He quickly becomes the group's leader. Golding describes Ralph as tall for his age and handsome, and he presides over the other boys with a natural sense of authority. Although he lacks Piggy's intelligence, Ralph is calm and rational, with sound judgment and a strong moral sensibility. But he is vulnerable to the same instinctive influences that affect the other boys, as demonstrated by his contribution to Simon's death. Nevertheless, Ralph remains the most civilized character throughout the novel. With his strong commitment to justice and equality, Ralph represents the political tradition of liberal democracy.Piggy:
Although chubby, awkward, and unwilling to physical labor because he suffers from asthma, Piggy who dislikes his nickname is the intellectual on the island. Though he is an outsider among the other boys, Piggy is eventually accepted by them, although unenthusiastically,when they discover that his glasses can be used to ignite fires. Piggy's intellectual talent endears him to Ralph in particular, who comes to admire and respect him for his clear focus on securing their rescue from the island. Piggy is dedicated to the idea of civilization and consistently scolds the other boys for behaving as savages. His continual clashes with the group end when Roger murders Piggy by dropping a rock on him, an act that signals the triumph of brute instinct over civilized order. Intellectual, sensitive, and conscientious, Piggy represents culture within the democratic system incorporated by Ralph. Piggy's nickname symbolically connects him to the pigs on the island, who quickly become the targets of Jack's and his hunters' bloodlust, an association that foreshadows his murder.Jack:
The leader of a boys' choir, Jack demonstrates militarism as it borders on dictatorship. He is cruel and vicious, preoccupied with hunting and killing pigs. His cruelty intensifies throughout the novel, and he eventually turns cruelly on the other boys. Jack takes an interest in the rules of order established on the island, but only if they allow him to inflict punishment. Jack represents anarchy. His rejection of Ralph's imposed order and the bloody results of this act indicate the danger inherent in a lawless system based only on self-interest.Simon:
The most spiritual character in the novel, Simon has a deep affection with nature and often walks alone in the jungle. While Piggy represents the cultural and Ralph the political and moral facets of civilization, Simon represents the spiritual side of human nature. Like Piggy, Simon is an outcast: the other boys think of him as odd and perhaps insane. It is Simon who finds the beast. When he attempts to tell the group that it is only a dead pilot, the boys, under the impression that he is the beast, murder him in a panic.Roger:
One of the hunters and the guard at the castle rock fortress, Roger is Jack's equal in cruelty. Even before the hunters devolve into savagery, Roger is barbaric and savage, kicking down sand castles and throwing sand at others. After the other boys lose all idea of civilization, it is Roger who murders Piggy.Sam and Eric (twins):
The twins are the only boys who remain with Ralph and Piggy to tend to the fire after the others abandon Ralph for Jack's tribe until SamnEric are kidnapped and forced to join Jack's tribe. The others consider the two boys as one single individual making the other boys combine their names into one 'SamnEric' not Sam and Eric. Here one might find suggestions about individualism and human uniqueness.Questions (Any areas of confusion about the novel)
Glossary of words I don't understand:
Intricacies = Details, especially of an involved or perplexing subject.
Pliant = Easily bent.
Defiles = To damage the purity or appearance of something.
Dubiety = The state or quality of being doubtful.
Sinewy = consisting of or resembling sinews. (Of a person or animal) lean and muscular.
Convulsion = A violent social or political disruption.
Untrodden = A surface not having been walked on.
Solemnity = The quality or state of being serious and dignified.
Mutinously = Disposed to or in a state of mutiny.
Uproarisly = Hilariously.
Paunched = Disemboweled animal.
Phosphorescence = Light emitted by a substance without combustion or perceptible heat.
Woebegone = Sad or miserable in appearance.
Myopia = The quality of being short-sighted.
Multitudinous = Incalculable
Truculently = In an aggressively eager manner.
Comment:
It didn't take me that long to finish the book but it wasn't very interesting. It took a long time to get into anything mildly intriguing to read and those moments didn't last too long. At the beginning of the book it didn't really make sense and I couldn't understand what was going on for a while, so that could have been better. Personally I wouldn't say I liked it but I guess I see how others would.
Interview Questions to Ralph:
1. Do you think there always needs to be someone in charge of a group? Why?
I do definitely think there always needs to be someone in charge of any type of group. I think this because without a leader things get easily confused and many arguments are one by those who are stronger when they may not necessarily be correct. I also think there needs to be a leader because if there is no leader people tend to stand around and do nothing while everyone does everything or nothing gets done at all because nobody will listen to each other.
2. I've heard that you were the leader of the group, how did this come to be decided?
Yes, that is true. Well first I blew the conch because Piggy and I found it and we decided to try and see where all the other boys were. With in minutes all the boys that survived the crash were gathered around, everyone decided as a group we were in need of a leader, someone to guide us through this event. Jack wanted to be in charge and it's not like I was too fussed whether or not I was, I just knew things needed to be done. Anyway the rest of the boys decided to vote whether to have Jack or I as leader by putting up their hands, and I had more people put their hand up for me so I won.
3. When the men found you and your friends everyone's face but yours was painted why was this? And why were you running?
All I ever wanted to do was act like a civilised group of boys and follow the rules like at home but the longer we stayed on the island the more fiesty, sadistic and rebellious Jack got. Eventually after we both had a fight and he was embarrassed, he told people he was leaving to go and hunt for pigs and who ever wanted to join him could. By dark most of the bigger kids had gone except for myself, SamnEric, Simon and Piggy, and we also had the littluns. They all painted their faces red and black as if they were wearing masks, I don't know what for maybe so they could hide behind what they truly thought and felt. One time I went with Piggy and SamnEric to talk to Jack after Simon had been killed and the littluns had run to Jack because he had meat, we wanted him to understand the importance of the signal fire and that the way he was acting was not right, not civilised. Well what happened next I was definitely not expecting, it was so hard to cope with, Piggy was my friend, Roger pushed a huge boulder down the hill just like a savage and it landed on top of Piggy and killed him. The tribe also kidnapped SamnEric and forced them to join the tribe. After there was only me left all by myself they tried to kill me, Jack instigated it and I'm not sure everyone was for it, everyone but Roger, I know he was all for killing. They set the ground on fire to try and smoke me out of where I was hiding, I ran and ran until I tripped over and that's when the found me. Thank god.
4. Why did you not count how many of you there were?
I'm not really sure as to why we didn't count how many of us there was, I think we all just assumed nothing would happen or we would know if someone went missing, or maybe we just didn't think it was all that important, we were just trying to survive and get rescued that's all we thought about at the beginning. We should have counted.
5. Before your plane crashed and you were elected leader of the group, did you consider yourself a leader or a follower?
I guess I considered myself a leader before our plane crashed, I was never one to follow others, I knew how to be fair and the difference between wrong and right. I never minded people to follow what I did or said but never quite focused on being a leader, it wasn't important until we all became stranded.
5 Facts about Lord of the Flies/ William Golding:
1. Lord of the Flies only sold 3,000 copies before going out of print in 1995 but, by the year of 1962, the novel had sold over 65,000 copies and was required reading at many colleges.
2. Stephen King has been heavily influenced by the novel.
3. "Castle Rock" - the town that appears in many of Stephen Kings novels came from the island landmark in Lord of the Flies.
4. During World War II, William Golding fought battleships at the sinking of the Bismarck, fended off submarines and planes and was even placed in command of a rocket-launching craft.
5. In 1935 Golding took his first teaching job for English and philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury.
THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL:
It is approximately 10 past 10 in the morning. The morning is cold, I think that is telling us something, that it isn’t a good thing we are killing the Aristos. I believe god is giving us a sign we shouldn’t do this, it will all turn into chaos but I’m only young no one would listen, I would also be believed to be against the revolution which I am but they can’t know that. I am scared for my life and if people ever found out I was extremely against this, I would be killed for sure. My head would be the one under the guillotine just like the former Duke Grenoble. Poor man. Poor Aristos. It smells terrible enough as it is but in a matter of seconds I can guarantee it will smell worse. There is a smoke smell coming from, the brazen, bread from the bakery, the stench of everybody including myself, the horses and the broth and rum mixed with hot water from the breath of everyone around me. Soon I will smell blood, any second now that guillotine will chop off the Duke’s head. Sacre bleue! It’s gone, his head is off, I can’t believe it, this is horrific! I am so glad I wasn’t at the front! Sacre bleue, sacre bleue! Now I can hear shouting, lots and lots of shouting. Death to the Aristocrats, death to the Aristocrats! I better shout along or someone will notice and dob me in. I am now touching all the dirty bodies that are still chanting in my ear. I’m disgusted. This is disgusting. I just want to go home.